Special Click It or Ticket campaign prepared for Thanksgiving weekend.

You’ve seen the signs and heard the rhyme, and now California law enforcement personnel are getting serious about the Click It or Ticket campaign as they prepare for the Thanksgiving weekend. The CHP will join more than 175 local law enforcement agencies statewide for a special enforcement effort to ensure that drivers get home safe for the holidays.

All available officers will be on patrol during the long weekend, keeping a special lookout for safety belt violators as well as those driving under the influence. And don’t rely on talking your way out; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has announced that given the years of public awareness campaigns, no warnings will be given out this weekend.

“There are no excuses. Nothing is worth risking the lives of you or your family,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety. “This should be the season of joy and thanksgiving, not tragedy.”

California’s seatbelt usage rate is currently 95.4 percent, but there are still more than 1.5 million people driving and riding unrestrained. Seatbelts can help you beat the odds, if not the traffic; crash survival rates for properly restrained drivers are 50 percent better than for those without belts.

During last year’s Thanksgiving weekend, 33 people were killed on California roadways. Of the 20 vehicle occupants killed in CHP jurisdiction, 35 percent were unbuckled.

“The roadways get crowded during the four-day weekend and on the day after Thanksgiving with holiday shopping traffic congestion,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “The message is simple, drive safe, sober, and remember to buckle up.”

Thanksgiving is also an Operation CARE (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) holiday, when highway patrols across the nation will place special safety emphasis on interstate routes. In California, CARE affects Interstates 5, 15, 40, and 80.